Personal baggage is generally used to carry clothing, papers, toys and portable items such as personal hygiene devices, toys, tools and so forth. Many different types of personal baggage are known, including formal or casual apparel such as handbags and brief cases, travel containers such as suitcases and garment bags, and sporting or educationally directed items such as knapsacks and school bags. As used herein, the term "knapsack" refers generically to all manners of backpacks, back sacks, rucksacks, hiking bags, day packs and the like.
The known baggage alarms can generally be placed in at least one of three categories. In a first category, it is known to protect personal baggage using an unauthorized entry alarm. Known alarms in this category are generally, or perhaps exclusively, at least partially external to the baggage, and this feature may be intended to provide a visual deterrent against theft. U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,768 to Mann, for example, describes a typical unauthorized entry alarm which relies upon disengagement of an external strap to trigger an audible alarm. In a second category it is known to protect personal baggage with a motion or proximity alarm. U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,140 to Dixon, for example, discloses an alarm which sounds when baggage is pulled from the owner's grasp, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,706 to Chen discloses a proximity alarm that sounds when someone or something gets too close to the baggage. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,559 describes an audible or visible alarm which is activated when movement of a protected article is sensed. In a third category, a remote control alarm circuitry is used to protect personal baggage. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,702 to Kuo, for example, hand bags, briefcases and other items are provided with a remotely activated alarm which provides both an audible signal, and also a high voltage shock.
Significantly, all of the aforementioned baggage alarms are intended solely to discourage or prevent theft. In fact, the purpose of such alarms is to annoy, alert, and to discourage retention of the baggage while the alarm is sounding.
The present inventors have recognized that the annoying nature of baggage alarms make them unappealing for use in conjunction with sporting or educationally directed baggage such as knapsacks and lunch boxes, especially where such baggage is marketed towards children. Nevertheless, children are prone to losing both their personal items and their knapsacks or other baggage containing such personalty, (from theft or otherwise), and there is a need to combine sporting or educational directed baggage with some sort of alarm.